


Dragon Scales

by Redrikki



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: 3 Sentence Ficathon, Deaf Character, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-08-07 00:11:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16397732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redrikki/pseuds/Redrikki
Summary: Collection of short Dragon Prince tumblr prompts.





	1. First Flight

Rayla sat with Callum and watched the young princes romp around the clearing. Someday, Zym would be as big as his father, but, for now, his premature hatching had left him small, even for a newborn. It was scary to think how close they’d come to losing him. He was here, though, healthy and alive, and that’s what mattered. She smiled as Zym pounced on Bait. Yes, his wings were a little underdeveloped, but they’d grow. Give him a few years and he’d be king of the sky. 

Callum looked up from the sketch he was working on. “Is it me,” he said quietly, “or is there something weird about Zym?” 

“What do you mean?” Rayla asked, worried. Callum had an artist’s eye. Had he seen something she’d missed? Something more than Zym’s small size and drooping wings?

“You know human babies—”

“Right, because human parents are just lining up to have an elven assassin watch their little ones,” Rayla said with a roll of her eyes.

Callum flushed. “I just mean, babies are usually pretty helpless. They aren’t born knowing their names or running around destroying magical bindings.”  
“It’s a dragon thing,” Rayla said with a shrug. Elven babies were about as useless as human ones, but a lot of magical creatures were born ready to walk, if not talk. “They spend so much time in the shell listening to everything around them. By the time they come out, they’re pretty much good to go.”

Across the clearing, Zym leapt in the air, his wings fluttering madly. He seemed to hang in there for a split second before crashing back to earth.

Rayla winced as he began to squall. “Well, mostly.” Were most dragons born ready to fly? She couldn’t remember. 

“It’s okay,” Ezran said, cuddling him. “No one gets it right the first time. You just need to get some speed. Like this,” he demonstrated, running around, flapping his arms like a demented chicken. Needless to say, he didn’t get much lift. As hard as he tried to imitate the boy, Zym didn’t get any either. His wings were just too small. 

“You’re both doing it wrong,” Callum said, setting his sketchbook aside. He lay down on his back and reached for Zym. “Come here.” Taking the dragon’s forelegs, he very gently pressed his feet against his belly and stretched his legs up, up, up, pushing Zym toward the sky.

“That’s it, Zym!” Ezran shouted encouragement. “Spread your wings!”

The little dragon lifted his chin, threw out his wings, and roared his defiance at gravity. Well, he baby roared. More of a squeal really. What ever it was, it was adorable.

Rayla flopped down on her back beside Callum. From this angle, Zym dominated the sky. She smiled up at him. “Stick with us, little one, and we’ll have you flying in no time.”


	2. Language of Bees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bees talk by dancing too.

Ezran liked the way his Auntie Amaya talked. People could be so loud sometimes, but not her. She spoke without making a sound. Mommy and Callum were teaching him her words so they could understand each other, but it was so much prettier when she did it. Amaya’s hands fluttered like birds when she was excited and swung like swords when she was mad. It was beautiful.

“You know, bees talk by dancing too,” Ezran said out loud and with his hands. He didn’t know all the words yet, but, as long as he faced her and spoke carefully, Auntie Amaya was pretty good at figuring him out.

“They dance?” she asked. “Is that what you think I’m doing?”

“Ah hu,” Ezran nodded. “Except you just dance-talk with your hands, and they use their whole bodies,” he said and launched into the phrase he’d learned just yesterday listening, or rather watching, the bees in Mommy’s garden. There was some sideways shuffling and a lot of rump wiggling. Without wings, Ezran couldn’t get it quite right, but he was sure a bee would get the gist. He was a little out of breath by the time he was done. “That means there are roses over there,” he explained when he finished.

“I see.” Auntie Amaya’s lips twitched with amusement as she signed. “I’m glad I just talk with my hands. That looks exhausting.”

“I guess,” Ezran said with a shrug. It probably didn’t bother the bees so much since there was a lot less of them to move. “If I teach you more bee, will you teach me more you.”

Auntie Amaya beamed. “Deal,” she said and they spent the rest of the afternoon exchanging the words for flowers.


	3. The Prank

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soren asks Callum's help pranking his sister.

“I don’t know,” Callum said, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. “That sounds kind of mean.”

He wasn’t sure if he should really get involved. On the one hand, Callum really wanted Soren to like him, or at least stop calling him step-prince and knocking him down all the time. On the other hand, Claudia already liked him, and Callum kind of liked her too. Was it really worth risking their friendship in the hope that Soren would be a little less of a jerk?

“She made tiny wolves come out of my chamber pot. Little wolves. MADE OF POO!” Soren said, gesturing emphatically. “They got foot prints everywhere.”

“That’s--“ Callum struggled to keep a straight face. “That’s terrible,” he gasped, somehow managing not to burst out laughing. It was hilarious. The palace cleaners probably weren’t any happier about it than Soren was, but Callum wished he could have seen it.

“That’s why I need you to distract Claudia while I put manure in her bed.” Soren slung his arm across Callum’s shoulders. “Be a friend.”

Callum stiffened under the weight of his arm. “But if you escalate, then she escalates, and it’s a war nobody wins. You need to find a way to make peace.”

“Seriously? Peace?” Soren said, disgusted. “You’ll never be a general with that attitude.”

“Here I thought it was because I can’t use a sword,” Callum said with a self deprecating laugh.

“I’m good with a sword,” Soren said, and then seemed to freeze. Callum could practically see the thoughts grinding behind his eyes like clockwork in need of a good oiling. “I’ll challenge her to a duel!”

Callum blinked, then blinked again. That wasn’t a bad idea, exactly. A duel would satisfy honor and make peace between them. There was just one problem with it. “You realize, as the challenged party Claudia would get to pick the weapon, right?”

“So?” Soren said with a careless shrug. “I’m good with all the weapons. I’m gonna go challenge her,” he said, and jogged off.

“Bye,” Callum said weakly. He wondered if he should feel bad for not reminding Soren that magic was a weapon.


	4. Given the Givens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla doesn't know if her team is alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for runespore's three sentence ficathon propmpt ["Rayla, if you are alive."](https://rthstewart.dreamwidth.org/139838.html?thread=5194302#cmt5194302)

Rayla had been trying not to think about it, but not knowing if her team was alive was a special, torturous, mix of worry, hope, fear, shame, and at least three different types of guilt. Her inability to kill the guard had cost them the element of surprise and her refusal to kill Ezran was going to cost them their arms as well. She hoped with all her heart that someone had made it out, but she knew they would never forgive her.


End file.
